Red Wings buy out Stephen Weiss; Mike Green a target?

The Stephen Weiss era in Detroit never really got underway after the forward signed a five-year, $24.9 million deal with the Red Wings in 2013. In two seasons, the former Florida Panthers captain missed 86 games as nagging injuries prevented him from being iproductive.

On Tuesday, the Red Wings ended Weiss’ time in Detroit, announcing they would be buying out the final three years of his deal.

According to General Fanager, Detroit will pay Weiss $1.67 million over the next six seasons and carry a $1.066 million cap hit for the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons; a $2.56 million charge in 2017-18; and $1.67 million for the final three years. 

Via MLive.com, Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said cap issues were the driving force behind buying Weiss out this summer as opposed to last year. This season, players like Gustav Nyquist and Tomas Jurco need new deals, while Justin Abdelkader, Riley Sheahan, Petr Mrazek and Danny DeKeyser are just some of the names who will have to be extended next summer.

“We’re going to give younger players an opportunity to play,” Holland said. “We got 14 forwards on board.” That’s code for: we don’t need all that money tied up in a broken down forward.

The move opens up space for Holland to try and lure Mike Green to Motown. Holland said he’d like to upgrade on the blueline and the extra available space will help should the price for the ex-Washington Capirals defenseman not get too crazy.

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